If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the forum FAQ and the House Rules and Forum Guidelines.
You will have to register before you can post. If you find your registration is rejected, please try again using a different username. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

A Trillionaire's Playground 2012 - It Begins

Well, the time is finally here. For the benefit of those who didn't see the sign-up thread...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------EXTRACT FROM AN UNNAMED NEWSPAPER

It is July 2008, and the world's richest man, Freidrich Manngeld - entrepeneur, owning several multinational companies, sports teams, and the country of Scotland - has announced plans that will shock the world of football, and indeed the world itself.

Manngeld had announced the renaming of Scotland several weeks ago as the "Republic of Freidrich Manngeld", or "FM" as it is to be known. A keen follower of football, the German has decided to set about creating the best league in the world, and has installed himself as head of the FM FA. Instead of sticking with a 'mediocre' and 'lacklustre' league, as he has donned the country's current setup, it is Manngeld's intention to create a multinational league system, with a newly-formed club from every one of the world's top ranked nations, all competing for glory.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately for Manngeld, his plans did not come to pass. FIFA would not sanction the overhaul of such an established football league system, and protests from the larger clubs, notably Celtic and Rangers, eventually persuaded the German to give up the ghost.

But he didn't stop there. For almost three years, Manngeld has been working tirelessly, and has finally revealed plans of his latest football venture. This was helped to no end by the unstable natures of six North American Football Associations, who Manngeld quickly took over. The countries, none of which are fully affiliated with FIFA, have agreed, for footballing purposes only, to be renamed as the "Republic of Friedrich Manngeld" under different confederations, whilst his old state of the same name has reverted to its former name of Scotland.

Manngeld's plan is to create the largest Club World Championship, all in one place. Every FIFA registered nation in the world is invited to have a team representing them, and will be run by some of the richest people in the world. The teams are to be sorted into divisions based on their continent or region, with no swapping between these continental divisions. However, there will be a cup competition which involves each team in the FM FA, as well as one for the winners of each continent, and various cup competitions for each continent internally.

Opponents of the plan have hinted that Manngeld has had a similar plan rejected two years ago, but the German bluntly rejects this notion. Whatever the history of his ventures, this time he is adamant that his creation will be a success.

The Format

So, now we're all up to speed, what's first? Well, in terms of updates, there will be a domestic review at the end of every season, briefly running through the leagues and cups of each confederation. This will also include player statistics, where the top players both domestically and abroad will be considered and compared, and a comprehensive review of the continental cups contested between the 208 new clubs. Following this review, there will be a brief period where chairmen will be able to make management changes within their clubs if they so wish; although it is likely their boards, who are in regular control of football matters, will be on top of this, having potentially already made changes during the season.

There will also be updates rounding up all major international tournaments whenever they take place; that is the top level competition for each confederation, as well as the World Cup, Confederations Cup and the Olympic Games. Smaller international competitions, such as the Caribbean Cup and Asian Challenge Cup will not be fully reviewed, but the winners and finalists will be named. It is hoped by many of the least illustrious footballing nations that the new clubs representing them can achieve success which will have a knock-on effect on the national sides, propelling them too to glory.

There will also of course be competitions and challenges to be contested among the chairmen, with prizes at stake, such as the sponsorship challenge held during the sign-up process. The second one will be coming up at the end of the first season. This is the main interaction with the game chairmen will have. Any other requests you may have are welcomed, and I'll do my best to fulfill them if appropriate.

For now though, let's get going! Banter is optional, but very much advised. Good luck.

As for the first update, I'm almost at February now as I'm running through the season. I'm trying to collect data and screenshots as I go to make things a little easier for myself when it comes to the end of season update. It should certainly (parts of it at least) be up today.

I mentioned that there would be a points system too - well here it is. It should be an interesting and fun way of seeing which clubs have had the most success overall during this sign up.

Well, the end of the season has come, I've (pretty much) finished gathering screenshots, and the updates will begin soon. I don't know if any of you have seen any of my sign-ups before, but my style is very much for the updates to come through in drips and drabs. Please feel free to comment or post in between these updates - all the things that directly link together will be included in the same post!

Asia looks like it could be very competitive over the next few seasons - the Saudi Arabians nicking the league title by just a single point from under the noses of the Chinese cup winners Xeng Xauow to write their name in history. The Super Cup, which will be held between the two at the start of the next season, could tell us a lot about how the next couple of years could pan out.

Tunisia's Espérance were the stand-out team in a relatively tight league, and deservedly won the inaugural title. It was a season to forget for Morocco's Chamakh Attack, who have changed their manager twice and never really looked settled. Lagos Eagles of Nigeria won the cup and finished second in the league, so just like Xeng Xaouw in Asia, look best placed to ensure there are two different names on the league trophy after next season.

Xeng Xaouw won the asian cup! and came second in the league! But where is AFC Seychelles Athletic? Surely they should be in the african leagues?

Edit: I think you may have given the seychelles team to someone else dave . Stade du ville in Division 4 have 'SEY' as their country abbrieviation. Cant say I'm not disappointed but it's very understandable that this mistake was made considering the collossal editing challenge. Could I have the things I won in the sponsor challenge and providing details for a team put into Xeng Xaouw (CHN) instead then?

If this opening season is anything to go by, the three teams to beat in Europe will be CSKA Dubrovnik, Il Diavoli and Les Aigles. It was the French outfit who triumphed in the league, claiming the biggest prize in European Manngelder football, as well as entry to the inaugural Virgin Champions' Cup next season. However, they definitely have two very useful challengers hounding them down.

Xeng Xaouw won the asian cup! and came second in the league! But where is AFC Seychelles Athletic? Surely they should be in the african leagues?

Edit: I think you may have given the seychelles team to someone else dave . Stade du ville in Division 4 have 'SEY' as their country abbrieviation. Cant say I'm not disappointed but it's very understandable that this mistake was made considering the collossal editing challenge. Could I have the things I won in the sponsor challenge and providing details for a team put into Xeng Xaouw (CHN) instead then?

Oh my, I'm so sorry! I must have missed my mistake when double checking the database.. It appears I've named your Seychellois side after the Djiboutian club's stadium! No idea how I managed that... They're definitely your side (AFC Seychelles Athletic) and I'll look into getting an LNC file sorted to sort the name out, as that's the only thing I think can be done now the game has begun. Again, my sincere apologies.

Originally Posted by stothy

Some of the team names are brilliant! Top work guys! Bring on FC Pelé. And maybe the database Dave?

Haha, it'll come, most likely after I've finished updates for the first season.

Well, the Mexican outfit, Mundial de Mazas look like they could be set to dominate North America. With an excellent league and cup double, and a monopoly on the better players in the league, other teams may struggle to match them. Interesting to note though, dominant though they are in the top players stakes, there seems to be a real lack of quality in North America compared to Asia, Africa and Europe. Could this harm Mundial de Mazas and North America when they come to play in the continental competitions?

THIS is how you dominate. With a comprehensive league title, and the cup to go with it, Auckland Albatrosses look as though they, like the New Zealand national team, aim to completely dominate Oceania. They're going to be tough to overhaul if this season is anything to go by, although Tiku Warriors, Konica United and FC Raupata look best placed to manage it.

No league and cup double here, with a large number of teams ready to give it their all and challenge for honours. FC Pelé, of Brazil, are arguably the strongest side, winning the league, but they couldn't even qualify from their group in the cup. South America's may well prove to be one of the more interesting leagues to watch over the coming seasons.

Yes, the league is mine! Muhahaha! But what happened in the cup :O ok and I have one real talent, the best in the league, but Mardona has 2 great ones. Hmm, I don't know who won the rivalry this time round!

The format of this competitions is a 208-team straight knockout. The top 8 sides from each continent (actually 8 random sides from each top division) get a bye in the first round. Due to the huge number of teams in the first few rounds, which would mean a huge number of screenshots, I'm only going to focus on the fourth round and onward in this updates.

It was a very poor showing from the South American and Oceanic sides, and not exactly stellar from the North Americans or Asians either. There were five non-top flight teams in the quarter finals, and one of them, Helsinki Highlanders of Finland made it through to the semis, and then the final, following some excellent battling performances. They were to meet the Italian giants Il Viola Diavoli to fight for the honour of being the first World Club Cup champions, and setting up a glamour tie against the FIFA Club World Championship winners of 2012. Nobody gave the Finns a chance, but then, extraordinarily, this happened:

That's a shock. An absolutely huge win for the Finns, and caps off a sensational year for them, which also saw them promoted to the BP European First Division. In early 2013, they could play Flamengo or Chelsea, the two favourites for the FIFA CWC. What an occasion that will be!

So close to an inaugural win on the World Cup! Glad to see my first team doing so well though. Fun, and what a beast Piras is. I guess I can see why the devils got through on penalties for the two matches prior to the final.

Also glad to see Quetzal sacked their manager. Hope José Antonio Camacho can manage better.

Seoul Tigers finished a respectable 5th in the top Asian league (didn't look to do very well in the cups though), however my Bahama's team finished 2nd bottom in the NA league 2 & I lost my manager when he resigned, sigh. Oh well, I have high hopes for next year! Well maybe not high, but I have umm, hopes :P

NOTES: Two sides make their debut in the tournament; co-hosts Equatorial Guinea and fellow Western African side Gambia. The only points either picked up at the tournament was a win for the Nzalang Nacional over Togo, which delighted the home support. No real shocks in the group stage, although Mali's qualification from the Group of Death at the expense of Morocco and Tunisia may surprise one or two.